ession 9 jesus gives the beatitudes · ession 9 jesus gives the beatitudes atthe 116 faithweaver...

9Session Jesus Gives the BeatitudesMatthew 5:1-12

116 FaithWeaver • Winter Quarter

Worship Theme: A humble heart pleases God.

Weaving Faith Into Life: Children will worship Jesus with humble hearts.

Session Sequence What Children Will Do Supplies

Let’s Praise God!

(up to 25 minutes)

Sing• “Everybody Come Along!” • “Love Is” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5) • “Give It Away” • “To God Be the Glory” • “Come, Thou Almighty King” • “You Gave” (John 14:19b)

KidsOwn Worship Kit:KidsOwn Worship DVD

Classroom Supplies:Video equipment, marker, 1 paper plate and pen per child, 1 ruler for every 3 children


Let’s Learn the Point!

(up to 25 minutes)

* Change Your AttitudeMake a craft, and demonstrate good attitudes.

Classroom Supplies:Photocopies of “Attitude Faces” (at the end of this session), scissors, paper plates, pompoms, glue

* Sweet HeartsExplore the attitudes Jesus taught in the Beatitudes.

Classroom Supplies:Bible, lemon slices, candy hearts, clean trash can, clean trash items

Help Me Be SweetAsk God to help them be “sweet hearts.”

Classroom Supplies:Candy hearts, bowl

Session 9 • KidsOwn Worship 117



(up to 25 minutes)

The NastiesMake up characters who lack certain values.

Classroom Supplies:1 Bible per child

The HumblesMake up new characters with positive values.

Classroom Supplies:1 Bible per child

* Super Quadcopter World Racing Champion Watch a video about a boy who’s not humble, and ask God to help them have humble hearts.

KidsOwn Worship Kit: KidsOwnWorship DVDClassroom Supplies:

Bible, video equipment


Let’s Pray!(up to 10 minutes)

The OfferingGive candy hearts with their offerings.

Classroom Supplies:1 candy heart per child, offering bowls

Beatitude PrayersPray silently to demonstrate each Beatitude in their lives.

Closing PrayerClose the worship session in prayer.

* Starred activities can be used successfully with preschool and elementary children together.

Customize your session to fit your needs. You can separate preschoolers and elementary children for Let’s Learn the Point!

Or, if you keep the children all together for the entire worship session, we suggest you choose from the starred activities.


This passage marks the beginning of a message Jesus preached called the Sermon on the Mount. Some people believe that this sermon is actually a compilation of Jesus’ teachings from various points in time. Others believe it is purely a summary of Jesus’ teachings on this one occasion. Whatever one believes about when the words were spoken, this discourse is certainly a summary of the high standards Jesus set forth for all his followers to strive to meet.

This particular section of the Sermon on the Mount is called the Beatitudes. These verses describe the characteristics that Jesus expects of those who follow him. In addition, each description is accompanied by a pronouncement of blessing on those who demonstrate that characteristic. Some of the blessings are worded in the present tense, and others are worded in the future tense, but all are certainties. Some Bible translations use the word happy instead of blessed in these verses, but happy doesn’t convey the full meaning of what’s intended here. This blessing by God involves joy that doesn’t depend on circumstances but rather is based on what God has done for us.

Here is a summary of the characteristics and blessings described in the Beatitudes:

Poor in spirit: those who are not proud, understanding that they can do nothing without God. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven: God grants them entry into his kingdom because they trust in him.

Those who mourn: people who are saddened by their own sin and the sin around them. They will be comforted: One day God will dry all their tears.

The meek: those who are humble before God. They will inherit the earth: The arrogant will inherit nothing, but the meek will be honored by God.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: people who strive to do what is right and pleasing to God. They will be filled: God will grant them personal satisfaction as they faithfully seek to serve him.

The merciful: those who humbly realize they don’t deserve God’s mercy, but having received it, strive to extend it to others. They will be shown mercy: As they extend mercy to others, God will grant more mercy to them.

The pure in heart: people who continue to focus on Christ and don’t allow other allegiances to contaminate that relationship. They will see God: One day they will see the object of their worship face to face.

The peacemakers: those who live at peace and seek to make peace among others. They will be called sons of God: By seeking to bring peace to others, they will show that they are God’s children.

Those who are persecuted because of righteousness: people who suffer for standing up for God. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven: Those who endure in faith are assured of a place in the kingdom.

Bible Background for Leaders

Jesus Gives the BeatitudesMatthew 5:1-12

Devotion for LeadersJesus preached in front of a large crowd, but he directed these blessings to his followers. Following Jesus has its price, but it also has great rewards.

Weaving Faith Into Your Life: Reread Matthew 5:1-12. Which of these blessings seem most true in your life? Which ones do you need Jesus to make more real in your life? Jesus wants this passage to describe you. He will give you all the help you need.

119 Session 9 • KidsOwn Worship

Why We Worship for LeadersToday we worship with humble hearts because a humble heart pleases God. The Beatitudes show us what it means to live a humble life in submission to God. All the heart attitudes that Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes are found in his own life.

As we become like Jesus, our love is demonstrated in the way we live our lives. Let’s help the children see that keeping our hearts humble is a way to worship God. We worship God today with thankful and humble hearts.

Easy Prep for LeadersLet’s Praise God!

• Make sure your video equipment is ready.

• Use a marker to write “Attitude Check” on paper plates so you have one for each child.

Preschool Activities—Refer to the preschool pages for preparations.

Super Quadcopter World Racing Champion—Watch “Super Quadcopter World Racing Champion” at least once so you’re familiar with it.

Let’s Praise God!Play KidsOwn Worship music videos as children arrive. Greet children by name, and say to each one, “Check your attitude.” Give each child a pen and an “Attitude Check” paper plate, and ask children to rate their attitudes from 1 to 12. Explain that 1 is a bad, grumpy attitude and 12 is a sweet, loving attitude. Have children write the attitude rating on the paper plate.

When everyone has arrived,

Hello, everyone. Let’s start by praising Jesus with the song “Everybody Come Along!”

Sing “Everybody Come Along!”

• What do we mean when we say, “Life will never be the same”?

Have children form trios, and give each trio a ruler.

Take a look at this ruler. As you look at it, think about how you’d answer the question, How much does Jesus mean to you? Think about where on the ruler your answer would fall. If you feel like Jesus doesn’t mean very much, maybe you’d say “2” or “3,” but if you think Jesus means quite a bit to you, you might say “10” or “11”—or even “12.”

Give children several seconds to think. Then ask children to compare the numbers they selected on the ruler to the numbers they chose on their “Attitude Check” plates.

• How did your two numbers compare? (The numbers were sort of close; the numbers didn’t match.)


• What do you think about how your numbers compare? (I think I have a good attitude because I love Jesus; Jesus helps me be loving.)

• What kind of attitude does Jesus have? (Jesus is loving; Jesus obeys God.)

If my attitude is different from Jesus’ attitude, my attitude may need some adjustment. Jesus means everything to me, and I want to be like Jesus. Jesus has a humble attitude.

Let’s do something to explore what the word humble means. I’d like each of you to choose a partner. The two of you will need one chair. Imagine you two have come to church and there is only one chair available. Only one of you will be able to sit. Show me what a proud person who thinks he is more important than anyone will do. (Pause.)

Show me what a humble person will do. (Pause.)

Good job! You may all have a seat now. A humble person doesn’t think he or she is the most important person in the world. A humble person thinks of others first, which means choosing to honor others instead of ourselves. If our hearts are humble, our attitudes are right, and we can love each other.

Sing ”Love Is” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

If I compare myself to other people, it’s easy to become proud and not humble. Use your bodies to demonstrate what a proud, full-of-himself, and puffed-up person might look like. (Pause.)

But if I compare myself to Jesus, it’s easy to be humble because Jesus was kind and humble even though he is almighty God. Show me with your bodies what a humble person looks like. (Pause.)

Jesus gives us love, kindness, and mercy. I want to be like Jesus.

Sing ”Give It Away.”

Thinking about Jesus helps keep my heart humble. The song we just sang asked God to help us give his love away and share our faith with others.

This is a good example of what it means to have a humble heart. When we are kind and loving and full of mercy, we are not so concerned with our own importance. We are concerned about others. That’s an example of humility, or being humble.

• Why does having a humble heart please God? (Because then we can love others; because we pay attention to God when we have a humble heart.)

Part of being humble is understanding what Jesus is really like and understanding our relationship to him. The Bible tells us that Jesus created the world, that he is God, and that he reigns as King in heaven. Jesus is holy and righteous.


• In what ways are we like Jesus? (Jesus lived on earth and so do we; we worship God.)

• In what ways is Jesus different from us? (Jesus can do miracles; Jesus is God.)

God has exalted Jesus to the highest place. That means that God put Jesus in the highest place in the universe. Jesus is above everyone else, and we bow down before him in worship.

Sing “To God Be the Glory.”

We exalt Jesus because he is worthy of all our praise. Our hearts are humble before Jesus because he is the King in heaven.

Sing ”Come, Thou Almighty King.”

We use our bodies to praise God. We can praise God in many positions. Sometimes we stand when we praise God. Other times we sit, and sometimes we kneel.

• What position do you think best represents a humble heart? Why? (Kneeling, because that’s what people do for a king; sitting because then we don’t think about what we’re doing.)

Let’s choose to demonstrate our humble hearts by kneeling as we sing “You Gave.” Sing this song to God, and tell him how much you love him.

Sing “You Gave” (John 14:19b).

Lord, we worship you today with humble hearts. We want to please you with our hearts, minds, and attitudes. In Jesus’ name, amen.


Preschool Activities, pages 123-124At this time, have the preschool leader invite the preschoolers to go to their own room for this section of activities. Tear out the Preschool Activities page, and give it to the preschool leader. Have the preschool leader bring the preschoolers back to participate in Let’s Pray! with the older children. If you prefer to keep all the children together, do the starred (*) activities. They will work well with both elementary and preschool children.


Elementary Activities

The NastiesAs the children do the following activity, they may need help interpreting what each Beatitude means. Refer to the box for simple ways to explain the terms found in Matthew 5:3-10. The meanings are adapted from the Amplified Bible.

Have children form groups of three or four, but be sure you have at least eight groups. If you have fewer than 24 children, make the groups smaller or give each group more than one verse. Give each child a Bible. (You may prefer to use a simplified version of this Bible passage. The New Living Translation makes this passage easier for children to understand.) Assign each group one verse from Matthew 5:3-10.

Verse 3: “Poor in spirit” means being humble and not thinking of yourself as overly important.

Verse 4: When you are sad, God will comfort you.

Verse 5: To be meek means to be patient.

Verse 6: “Righteousness” means being right with God and doing things that please him.

Verse 7: To be merciful means to show mercy or kindness to others rather than judgment.

Verse 8: When someone is pure, he or she is true to what God wants.

Verse 9: “Peacemakers” are those who make and keep peace.

Verse 10: When someone is “persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” he or she is mistreated for doing the right thing.

Our Bible story today comes from the part of the Bible called the Beatitudes. In these verses, Jesus talks about the kinds of attitudes that please God. I’d like you to look up your verse in your group. Then we’ll work together to make up a story about a family called the Nasties.

Each member of the Nasty family has an attitude that’s the opposite of something Jesus says is blessed. For example, the first Beatitude Jesus gives is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The opposite of the poor in spirit might be the snobby in spirit. So the family member might be named Snobby Sarah Nasty. You’re going to create a member of the Nasty family for the Bible verse I gave you.

Give the children two or three minutes to talk. Then draw their attention back to you. Begin with the group that worked with Matthew 5:3. Have a representative from that group begin the story using the group’s Nasty family member. (If more than one group worked with Matthew 5:3, choose one group to go first.)

(continued on page 125)

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9Session

Preschool Activities

Session 9 • KidsOwn Worship

Jesus Gives the BeatitudesMatthew 5:1-12

Using TheoConsider using Theophilus the FaithRetriever puppet today in these ways:

• Have Theo lead the preschoolers from the main worship area to the preschool room.

• Have Theo encourage the children to clean the room during the “Sweet Hearts” activity.

• See the KidsOwn Worship Kit for a puppet skit written for today’s worship session.

Worship Theme:

A humble heart pleases God.

Easy Prep for Leaders

Change Your Attitude—Photocopy the “Attitude Faces” handout (p. 128), and cut out the eyes and the mouths. You’ll need two “mean” eyes and one “mean” mouth and two “nice” eyes and one “nice” mouth for each child.

* Change Your AttitudeGive each child a paper plate and the eyes and mouths you cut out before the session.

We’re each going to make an Attitude Person. On one side of your paper plate, you’ll glue a face that looks nice and loving.

Give each child a pompom or a cotton ball, and help the child glue the pompom to the center of the plate to make a nose. Ask the children to choose the eyes that look nice and humble. Help them glue the eyes above the nose. Repeat the process for the mouth.

Raise your hand if you think this face looks nice and humble. (Pause.) Now turn your plate over, and make a face that looks mean and not humble.

Help the children complete their plates.

• What is a bad attitude?

I’m going to tell you about people showing different attitudes. If the person shows a good attitude, show me the side of your plate with the nice and humble face. If the person shows a bad attitude, show me the mean and not humble face.

Your baby sitter says it’s time to go to bed, and you say, “You’re not the boss of me! You can’t make me!” Show me the face. Is it nice and humble or mean and not humble? (Pause.)

What if someone takes your ball, but you don’t get mad? You let him have the ball instead. Would you have a nice and humble face or a mean and not humble face? (Pause.)

• What kind of attitude does God want you to have?

* Sweet HeartsAsk a helper to use “clean” trash to make a mess in another part of the room while you begin the activity.

Our Bible story comes from the book of Matthew. Open your Bible to Matthew 5:1.

When Jesus saw a big crowd of people coming to hear him teach, he went up a mountainside and began to teach them. Now let’s pretend

that you are the crowd. I’m going to speak to you like Jesus spoke to the people in our story. You sit on the floor right here. I’m going to pretend this table is the mountain. I’ll climb up on the mountain as Jesus did. Sit on the table as you talk.

Jesus told the people about the attiudes we should have. This part of the Bible is called the Beatitudes. We’re going to call it the Be Gladitudes.

Help Me Be Sweet We’re going to use our sweet hearts to help us say a prayer. Let’s all sit on the floor in a circle. I’ll pass this bowl of candy hearts around the circle. When the bowl comes to you, take another candy heart. Then ask God to help you be a sweet heart. Just say, “Help me be sweet.” Then you can eat your candy.

We honor God when we have a humble or sweet attitude. We honor God whenever we act like Jesus. Today we learned to be sweet hearts for God.

Thank you, Jesus, for showing us how to have humble hearts. Help us please God by being humble. In Jesus’ name, amen.

• What kind of attitude does Jesus have?

Jesus shows us what kind of attitude he has in our Bible story. Jesus told people they were blessed, or glad, if they had the attitudes that Jesus had. Now I’d like you to do a taste test for me. I have two things for you to taste.

Give each child a candy heart. Ask children to taste the hearts and tell what they taste like. Then give each child a lemon slice. Ask children to taste the lemons and tell what they taste like.

Raise your hand if you like sweet things. The candy hearts taste sweet. Jesus tells us that we are blessed when we have humble hearts. That means our attitudes are sweet and kind, sort of like the sweet candy heart.

One of the verses in our Bible story says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Let’s see what it feels like to show mercy. Find a partner, and give your partner a hug.

• Does hugging show mercy or meanness?

• How does it feel to show mercy?

We’re supposed to show mercy to everyone. Let’s practice that. I’d like you to hold hands with your partner and walk to two other partners and give each other hugs. Pause and demonstrate the process if necessary.

Now we’re all showing mercy. Our Bible story tells us how to have a humble heart by showing mercy. It also says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” A peacemaker makes peace instead of fighting. Let’s shake hands with each other to show we’re making peace.

The Bible also says, “Blessed are the meek.” We could say that being meek is like being sweet. Our candy hearts remind us to be sweethearts for God. Raise your hand if you’ve ever done a job for your mom—maybe you picked up your toys, for example. (Pause.) A humble, sweet heart is happy to help out. A person who is not humble may not be happy to help out.

We can show our humble hearts by helping out at church. We can help out when we see a need. I heard there is something to be done in the other side of the room. Let’s go see what it is.

Take the children to the “messy” spot.

• What can we do here?

Encourage the children to help you clean up the mess.

Not everybody likes to clean up messes. Humble people will do it anyway, because it needs to be done. Some people might not want to clean up messes because they think they’re too important to do a messy job. But that’s not being humble. You showed a humble heart by helping out with a messy job. That makes God happy.


Preschool Activities

Be aware that some children have food allergies that can be dangerous. Know your children, and consult with parents about allergies their children may have. Also be sure to carefully read food labels, as hidden ingredients can cause allergy-related problems.

ALLERGY ALERT

* Sweet Hearts (continued)


For example, a representative from the first group might start a story by saying, “Hi! I’m Snobby Sarah. I’m better than the other kids at school. In fact, I’m better than everybody in the world! One day, I went to school, and a new girl came up to me. Her clothes were awful. She obviously doesn’t shop where we shop! So I said…” Then go on to the second group or groups. Continue until all the groups have contributed to the story.

The story children tell will probably be funny, but it will also make the point. When the story is finished,

• Would you like to be a part of the family you just created? Why or why not? (No, everyone was mean; no, life wouldn’t be fun.)

As Christians, we’re part of Jesus’ family, and Jesus wouldn’t want us to be like the characters you made up. That’s why he tells us that we’re blessed when we are not like the Nasty family. Let’s learn more about this passage.

The HumblesOur Bible story tells us about qualities Jesus values. Stay in your groups, and look at Matthew 5:3-10 again. What word does each of these verses begin with?

Right, each verse begins with the word blessed. Jesus is telling us that we are blessed when our hearts are a certain way. Snobby Sarah is certainly not blessed when she acts snobbish. Snobby Sarah values things more than she values people. Let’s look at verse 3. It says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Poor in spirit might mean humble and sweet. A character that is poor in spirit might be called Humble Helen.

• What do you think Humble Helen values? (Being kind; helping people.)

Look at the other verses. They describe other qualities, such as mercy, peacemaking, righteousness, and purity. People who value these qualities value different things from the Nasty family values.

Now let’s make up a story about a family called the Humble family. This time, we’ll take turns adding to the story from a humble perspective. Include things that the Humble family values. For example, Humble Helen values people over things. We’ll start our story like this, “Humble Helen overheard Snobby Sarah, and she said…” I’ll give you a couple minutes to work in your group and come up with a member of the Humble family that relates to your Bible verse.

Give the children two minutes to work, then call the groups back together, and begin a story about the Humbles. Begin with the group that worked with Matthew 5:3. Have a representative from that group begin a story about the

(continued from page 122)


member of the Humble family the group came up with using the story starter, “Humble __________ overheard Snobby Sarah, and she said…” Then go on to the second group or groups. Continue until all the groups have contributed to the story.

• What have you discovered about what God values versus what the world values? (God values people more than things; God values not trying to be first.)

• What does it mean to be humble? (Seeing that other people are important; being kind and generous.)

All the character traits that Jesus lists in the Beatitudes could only belong to someone with a humble heart. A person with a humble heart doesn’t think too highly of himself or herself. A humble heart is patient, righteous, and merciful. A humble heart is pure and clean. A humble heart makes and keeps peace. A humble heart does what’s right. A humble heart pleases God.

* Super Quadcopter World Racing ChampionShow the “Super Quadcopter World Racing Champion” video. It

shows a boy who is extremely arrogant about his quadcopter racing skills, but is humbled in the end.

• How did the boy in the video remind you of our family of Nasties? (He was snobby; he was only focused on himself; he thought of himself as overly important.)

• When is it hardest to keep a humble heart? (When I really want to win; when I’m mad at someone.)

• How can you keep your heart humble even when you’re successful? (I can think about what Jesus did; I can remember that’s what God wants me to do.)

• How do we honor God by having a humble heart? (We honor God because it’s what he asks us to do; because we show God is important to us..)

We honor God by being like Jesus. Jesus had a humble heart even when people persecuted him. Jesus kept his humble heart even when people crucified him; he never tried to destroy them. Let’s see what Jesus did instead. I need a volunteer to find Luke 23:34 and read it aloud. “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they divided up his clothes by casting lots” (Luke 23:34).

• What did Jesus do to show his humble heart in this verse? (He forgave everyone.)

Have kids hold their hands out, palms up.

Jesus tells us that when we keep a humble heart even when it’s hard, we’ll be blessed. We can pray and ask God for help. We can read God’s Word to find help to keep our hearts humble. Let’s


honor God by asking him to make our hearts humble. Ask God to give you the attitude you found in the Bible story that you want to develop. For example, you might want God to help you develop mercy, so you would ask for “mercy” as you hold out your hands, ready to receive God’s gift.

God, we want to honor you with our attitudes. Please help us each have a humble spirit as Jesus did. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s Pray!The Offering

Give each child a candy heart to give as an offering.

As we give our money offering, let’s also offer God our humble hearts. When the bowl comes to you, put your candy heart in it and say, “Here’s my sweet heart,” or “I give you a humble heart.”

Take the offering.

Beatitude PrayersLet’s ask God to help us be the kind of person described in the Beatitudes. I’ll read aloud each of the Beatitudes, then you can ask God to help you be the kind of person who has that attitude or character trait.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” (Pause.)

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Pause.)

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Closing PrayerHave children pray in small groups of two or three. Encourage them to pray for one another to have good attitudes and for others to come to know Jesus because of the attitudes they see in God’s family.

ALLERGY ALERT See Session 1.

Attitude Faces


Permission to photocopy this handout from KidsOwn Worship® Leader Guide, Winter, granted for local church use. Copyright © Group Publishing, Inc. group.com

Permission to photocopy this handout from KidsOwn Worship® Leader Guide, Winter, granted for local church use. Copyright © Group Publishing, Inc. group.com

Encouragement for Leaders

Dear Lord, thank you for knowing me by

name. Thank you for leading me. Thank

you for being my Shepherd. Please help me

to lead my students to an understanding of

your love and sacrifice. In Jesus’ name, amen.

From Heartfelt Thanks for Sunday School Teachers.

Copyright © 2003 Group Publishing, Inc., Loveland, CO.

ession 9 jesus gives the beatitudes · ession 9 jesus gives the beatitudes atthe 116 faithweaver...

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